16th Nov 2009, 17:39

I have a 2001 Odyssey. 4 days ago, my wife was driving it to work when it stalled with the check engine light coming on. She turned off and the turned on the ignition and it drove fine. I nevertheless knew something was not right and took it to the nearest dealer. He said the EGR valve needed to be replaced. Then he said, his mechanic noticed a transmission fluid leak and said it should be fixed sooner than later. I hesitated, but was offered a loaner car while they worked on it.

It's 3 days later and now they say I need a new transmission!!! It's got 120K miles on it. But it was running fine and my guess is the EGR valve replacement would have been enough. I have no leakage marks on my garage floor so the leak could not have been that bad. I am going to fight this and not pay a penny more than to fix the leak and replace EGR valve. Let's hope it's a just world out there for a change? I think Honda gets an overhyped good rep while Ford is honest about its issues and gets a bad one... now Ford is turning around while Honda has gotten complacent. What do others think?

3rd Dec 2009, 22:01

I have 2004 Honda Odyessy. Driving on the highway the TCS light came on. Within 10 miles I lost the power to pull. Could not drive more than 50 MPH. So I stopped road side and noticed lot of smoking coming from engine area. I noted transmission oil. Please let me know what may be my problem? Do cover under manufacture warranty. Please send me you kind advice.

Thanks.

7th Dec 2009, 19:51

Own a 2001 Odyssey, bought it second hand with 90k. Now have 130k. Found out previous owner had changed transmission at 75k. Last week, the transmission went out again, first engine light, then problems with acceleration and funny noises and now... BAM. I was a loyal Honda customer, owned Accords BUT after this horrific experience, I shall NEVER buy a HONDA nor will I recommend it. It's crap. Too bad there was no class action suit in Canada against this lemon of a van. Piece of trash. Would have been better off with almost any other van domestic or import.

17th Dec 2009, 06:46

I have a 2001 Odyssey and had many years of problems with CEL, TCS light and now the transmission is slipping (can only drive up to 40 miles in gear 2 without ramping the RPM for no reason.) I guess after reading I felt not so bad considering it is approaching 200K miles. But it is still terrible considering I paid Honda for good reliability. I know it is dying soon and need to buy another minivan (this time used, may be 3 years old.) Does any one know if Honda still have transmission problems for 2008 or later minivan/SUV models? Thanks.

10th Jan 2010, 20:37

I have a 2002 Odyssey with 135k miles one it. For the past 2 winters I have had the check engine light and TCS light coming on on colder days. I finally got around to reading out the fault codes and saw the EGR flow insufficient fault. I replaced the EGR valve today according to a service bulletin I found (wish I would have looked at this site first), and the check engine and TCS lights have come on again within 20 miles of driving.

I sure hope I'm not the next to be visiting the trans shop, but reading this site is freaking me out. I also recently replaced front engine mount, shocks, and struts, so I need to get another 3 years out of this car.

25th Jan 2010, 07:52

I bought a 2001 Honda Odyssey, and around 90,000 I complained to the dealer regarding rough gear shifts. They kept the car for a week and could not reproduce the problem.

At 105,000 miles the transmission broke; at that point I complaint to Honda and they replaced the transmission at no cost, but I paid the 800.00 dollars for labor.

Now at 190,000 miles, the transmission broke again and I just can't afford a new one. When we first replaced the transmission, I had the timing belt replaced and the motor mounts. The last 10,000 miles I was very concern of the transmission breaking, and it did now. The service technician at Honda always told me to get rid-of the van when getting to 160,000 miles.

19th Feb 2010, 18:05

Well I think all of you people are lucky, because you were able to drive thousands of miles and get your transmission fixed under warranty, unlike me.

I just bought a 2001 Odyssey with 170k, the mileage was not a big deal because I thought Hondas were known to run over 300,000 miles with little problems.

3 months ago I purchased a Honda Odyssey, and barely drove a little under 2,000 miles and my tranny went out, this is my second Honda with tranny problems; the first one was a 98 Honda Accord, and the tranny went out. I thought it was just my luck.

After buying an Odyssey van, I wish I would have read this web-site first.

Well I was a big fan of Honda, but I will never waste another dollar in purchasing another Honda, unless it is given to me for free, and it better be running or else I will junk it.

p.s drive a Ford and race a Chevy.

26th Mar 2010, 12:22

My take on the Odyssey is the transmission torque converter must have been borrowed from a lighter model Honda car and is under sized for this larger vehicle. Most torque converter clutch friction material is made with friction paper. It would be nice if Honda would spring for a better friction material to fix this problem. I would suggest asking your transmission shop to use a converter rebuilt with Clutchtex, a 100% Kevlar composite friction material, which lasts much longer than friction paper.

15th Apr 2010, 21:14

I have owned my 2001 since new.

Tranny #1 went out @ 80,000. Honda replaced with a remanufactured unit @ no charge.

Tranny #2 went out @ 160,000 miles. Honda would gladly replace it for $4800. I said... NOT. Took it to a local reputable shop and had it rebuilt. Manager told me he sees 6 of these a month. He claims the torque converter is the weak link, and the Honda re-manufactured units were using the same components as the new units.

The good news is, I sent a nasty letter to the Honda CEO in Tokyo, Japan. Honda replied by paying for $2800 of the $3200 repair bill!

I have added a Magnefine filter to the transmission cooler line and replace fluid at 30,000 mile intervals. I now have 213,000 miles and all seems well.

Send them a letter. It was only 90 cents and I got $2800 for the effort.

6th Jul 2010, 17:20

It seems I'm not the only one with transmission problems. I bought my new van in August of 2001, in Florida.

The 1st transmission went out at around 40-50,000 miles. It was replaced at no charge. Shortly after that replacement, Honda came out with the 7 year, 100,000 mile warranty.

I moved to Illinois, and the 2nd tranny went out at 105,000 miles in August of 2006. My local dealer was nice enough to replace this one at no charge. Shortly after the 3rd tranny was installed.

I've complained of problems at least 2 other times, and they were unable to find anything wrong.

Now however, with the current problems, they were able to find the problem. Honda recommends replacing them after 10,000 miles. Since this transmission (my 3rd) only has 34,000 miles on it, my local dealer wants to try a flush system first at a cost of $143. My local dealer is currently trying to get Honda to cover this cost. Will know more later, and will update.